ESCAPE THE THUNDER

First novel by the Southern writer (Georgia) who won the Mademoiselle short story contest in 1942. It holds promise of more good to come, for strength, sincerity and character insight is here in his writing. Luther Walker, negro, is home in Montgomery after a six year prison term for supposedly killing a man while drunk. Personalities conflict, as Josh Johnson, the section's bully, hates Luther because he is afraid that Luther paid for a crime he had committed; as Pecola, Josh's discarded mistress, loves and marries Luther; as Miss Lulu makes a home for Luther and Pasola; as Pets and Fred, Luther's friends with whom he worked, stand by him. This is the Negro's story -- vital, living personalities, hating, loving and fighting. A story with no social implications -- good story -- good writing.